Monkees guitarist Michael Nesmith died Friday morning at his California home. He was 78.
His family said in a statement that the musician died “surrounded by family, peacefully and of natural causes.”
Nesmith, a folk artist, shot to fame in the mid ‘60s after being cast in the made-for-TV band along with Mickey Dolenz, Davy Jones and Peter Tork. They didn’t start playing their own instruments until the Monkees had released two albums.
The Monkees released eight studio albums between 1966 and 1969 and had hits like “Daydream Believer,” “Last Train to Clarksville” and “I’m a Believer.”
At one time, the band sold more albums than the Beatles – the group they were create to spoof.
The Monkees aired for only two seasons.
Newsmith left the group in 1970 and played in a couple of bands and released and produced music under his own name. He reunited with members of the Monkees several times over the years – including this year for an anniversary tour with Dolenz. (The pair performed together in 2018 in Toronto and Kitchener.)
Jones died in 2012 at 66 and Tork in 2019 at 77.
In the 1980s, Nesmith produced music videos for Lionel Richie and Juice Newton as well as several TV and film projects, including 1984’s Repo Man.
Nesmith earned four Grammy nominations with the Monkees and twice on his own – winning Video of the Year in 1981 for Elephant Parts.
Nesmith was married three times and leaves behind sons Christian, Jonathan and Jason and daughter Jessica.